Yushin Okami
Yushin Okami is a Japanese fighter known for his ground control. Road to the Title He won his last fight against Lucio Linhares via doctor stoppage. He then defeated Mark Munoz by an impressively narrow split decision. He was next set to fight Vitor Belfort in Belfort's official UFC middleweight debut. Then, with number-one contender Chael Sonnen being busted for steroids, the winner of Belfort vs. Okami was suspected to gain the next title shot at Silva. Belfort withdrew with yet another injury and was replaced with Nate Marquardt and now THAT matchup would decide the next number-one contender who would face off against the winner of Belfort vs. Anderson Silva. Okami won the fight via narrow unanimous decision and earned the long-deserved title shot. He next fought for the title in a rematch against Silva in Silva's native Brazil. Silva completey dominated Okami, winning via second round TKO. After the Title: Twilight of Okami's UFC Career Okami next signed on to face former light-heavyweight slugger Tim Boetsch in Okami's native Japan. After dominating Boetsch for the first two rounds, Okami was knocked out by Boetsch in the third. Okami rallied and came back to defeat late replacement Buddy Roberts via second round technical knockout. Okami next signed for a rematch with Alan Belcher at the end of December 2012. Okami dominated Belcher en route to a unanimous decision victory. He next signed to face former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard in his own native Japan. He defeated Lombard via a close split decision. Okami next signed in May 2013 to fight former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza. Souza defeated Okami via first round technical knockout. Okami was then cut from the UFC. World Series of Fighting Okami next signed with the WSOF and several months later in March 2014 he was set to make his long-awaited debut against fellow newcomer the Bulgarian Svetlozar Savov defeating a game Savov via second round arm triangle choke submission. Okami then fought middleweight champion and fellow UFC veteran Dave Branch losing an extremely tepidly paced bout via fourth round TKO. Okami then dropped to welterweight for a number-one contender bout against fellow UFC veteran Jon Fitch, losing a tepidly paced but dominant unanimous decision. Fights *Amar Suloev vs. Yushin Okami *Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami 1 - The fight was in the opening round of the Rumble on the Rock 2006 welterweight tournament. Anderson Silva landed an upkick from the bottom as Yushin Okami had both knees down. Okami was awarded the victory via disqualification. *Yushin Okami vs. Alan Belcher - The fight was Alan Belcher's UFC debut, and Okami's as well. *Yushin Okami vs. Kalib Starnes *Yushin Okami vs. Mike Swick - The fight was Mike Swick's last as a middleweight and his first defeat inside the UFC. *Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami - Whoever won the fight was speculated to earn a title shot against middleweight champion Anderson Silva. The fight was Okami's first loss inside the UFC. He was a late replacement for Martin Kampmann. *Yushin Okami vs. Jason MacDonald - Jason MacDonald had a seven-and-a-half inch reach advantage over Okami. *Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner *Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister - After the fight, Dean Lister asked personally that his UFC contract be terminated and he was voluntarily cut from the promotion's roster. *Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen - Many thought Okami would simply run through Chael Sonnen with a dominant decision. They were right about the dominant decision and the running through, but it wasn't on the part of Okami. *Yushin Okami vs. Lucio Linhares - Both fighters were coming off of hard-fought losses, Okami to Chael Sonnen, and Lucio Linhares to Rousimar Palhares. Okami showed improved standup. Lucio Linhares was cut after the back-to-back losses. *Yushin Okami vs. Mark Munoz *Yushin Okami vs. Nate Marquardt - The fight was to decide the number-one contender in the UFC middleweight division. *Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami 2 - The fight was for the UFC middleweight title with Anderson Silva defending. *Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami *Dave Branch vs. Yushin Okami *Jon Fitch vs. Yushin Okami - The fight was the welterweight debut of Okami and it was a WSOF welterweight title eliminator. Category:Middleweight fighters Category:World Series of Fighting fighters